Advanced Certification Elementary (ACE)

If you already have a Bachelor’s degree, completing our license certification program will satisfy the requirements needed to receive your teacher’s license in Wisconsin. Advanced Certification Elementary is a post-baccalaureate program designed to prepare you for initial licensure in elementary Regular Education (777) and Middle Childhood-Early Adolescence (72) with the option of earning a Master of Arts in Education degree with a concentration in Teaching and Learning through the completion of three additional courses. The program was developed in conjunction with the goals and standards of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Association for Childhood Education International.

What’s more, you’ll work with experienced faculty leaders who offer responsive and supportive advising and are dedicated to helping you meet your individual and professional goals. We will guide you through the process of applying for your DPI license and provide assistance in helping you find a teaching position.

Licensure Courses

Students pursuing certification for Regular Education (777) and Middle Childhood-Early Adolescence (72) licensure complete the following course sequence. Classes meet on evenings or Saturdays at either our Monroe Street or Deming Way campus locations. Licensure courses can be completed in 21 months.

Professional Core

ED 661 Integrative Classroom Environments

ED 635 Diversity in the Classroom

ED 681 Child Development and Exceptionalities

ED 682 Children’s Literature

Methods and Students Teaching

MTH 101 Introduction to Problem Solving

MTH 602 Research and Practice Arithmetic

MTH 603 Research and Practice Geometry

ED 667 Science Explorations and Methods

ED 685 Integrating the Arts in Elementary Curriculum

ED 683A Reading and Language Arts Methods I

ED 683B Reading and Language Arts Methods II

ED 684 Social Studies Methods

ED 660B Reflections in Practice

ED 697 Student Teaching MC-EA

OPTIONAL: English as a Second Language (ESL) Add-on Licensing

ED 604A

Second Language Acquisition in the Content Areas

ED 604F

ESL Curriculum Design and Assessment

ED 605A

Formal to Functional Linguistics

ED 697A

Student Teaching MC-EA & ESL

OPTIONAL: Bilingual Education Add-on Licensing

ED 604A

Language Acquisition in the Content Areas

ED 605K

Language Analysis and Bilingualism

ED 605D

Biliteracy Development

ED 604G

Bilingual Curriculum Design and Assessment

ED 697B

Student Teaching MC-EA:Bilingual

Master Degree Courses

Students who also wish to pursue the Master of Arts in Education option complete the following two additional courses: (6 graduate credits total):

Graduate tuition for the 2017-18 academic year is $930 per credit. You can expect that cost to rise by approximately 3.5% per year in the future.

Most students complete the 42 credits required for the Initial Regular Elementary Education - Middle Childhood Early Adolescence license in 2 years. Another 6 credits completes the Master’s degree.

Based on current tuition rates, the estimated total tuition cost to complete the license requirement would be approximately $39,060. The projected total tuition cost to achieve both the license and the Master’s degree would be $44,640.

Financial Aid

Graduate students are eligible for financial aid in the form of Federal Stafford Loans. Learn more about Stafford Loans, including eligibility requirements and application instructions.

Our admissions and financial aid counselors have worked with thousands of students who have questioned how they could afford to complete their graduate education. They will use their experience to suggest creative solutions for financing your education. We work with students and organizations to manage tuition reimbursement plans, extend tuition discounts to various corporate partners in the region, offer third party billing and monthly payment plans, and work with veterans to maximize their available aid.

Applicants must meet all of the requirements for admission to the graduate program.

Provide evidence of a baccalaureate or more advanced degree from a United States regionally accredited or equivalent post-secondary institution with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale for regular admission status. The cumulative grade point average is computed on the highest degree held at the time of application to the Edgewood College graduate program.

Complete and submit application (including $30 fee) via the Graduate Application webpage. Priority application deadline - August 1. This application is for graduate students who want to pursue a Master’s degree, license or certificate, or take courses as a non-degree student.

Request that official transcripts for all undergraduate and graduate academic credits received from each post-secondary institutions you attended be sent directly to Edgewood College Graduate and Professional Studies.

Provide two letters of recommendation from college or university professors, supervisors, and/or professional colleagues who can focus on the probability of your success in graduate school. Letter of Recommendation Guidelines

Submit a written statement listing the reasons why you think you will be successful in graduate school; cite how specific background experiences will aid in your success as a student.

In Madison, the computer-based version of Praxis Tests can be taken at:
Prometric Testing Center:
1721 Thierer
Madison, WI 53704
608-231-6270

The priority application deadline for the Advanced Certification program is July 1. All required application materials should be submitted by the deadline. Applications received after the deadline will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

International Students may have additional admission requirements. Learn more.

Lisa Carey is the Director of the Advanced Certification Elementary Program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education which she earned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She earned her Master of Education in Instructional Leadership from Loyola University. She teaches social studies methods courses for the ACE program as well as courses for undergraduate education programs.

Cynthia Perry Ed.D., is an Associate Professor of Education at Edgewood College.

She teaches undergraduate special education and methods courses and graduate-level courses for the Advanced Certification Elementary (ACE) program.

Dr. Perry has served as a consultant for home-school teachers and provided staff, curriculum, instructional and assessment development for teachers of special needs children. Additionally, she has spoken to women throughout the country at churches, women's ministry conferences, and other venues on such subjects as ministry, training and development of teachers and parents of special needs children, and spiritual growth.

She also speaks, along with her husband, Dwight, at Becoming One, their increasingly popular national conference on marriage. She has written in such areas as prayer, women's ministry, and special education. Her chapter, "Kids in Constant Motion: How Can the Church Work More Effectively with Children with ADD/ADHD," in Building Unity in the Church in the New Millennium (Moody Press), is a landmark work in the area of the church reaching out to those with special needs.

Dana Hagerman has been the Director of Clinical Experiences at Edgewood College since July of 2011. She earned her PhD in December 2013 from the University of Wisconsin- Madison, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Dana has taught both first and third grade and is passionate about teaching young students how to read and write.

Her research interests include early language and literacy practices, teacher education, and teaching literacy with a social justice emphasis. Her dissertation, Funds of Knowledge and Apprenticeship Practices: A Longitudinal Case Study of One Nepali Immigrant Student’s Language and Literacy Learning, spans across three years of data collection.

Dana also serves on a task force for the Department of Public Instruction for the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), a high stakes assessment that must be passed by all teacher candidates beginning in August 2015.

Donna Vukelich-Selva has taught at Edgewood College since 2008. Previously she founded and ran a study abroad program for US college students in Nicaragua, and taught at a K-12 bilingual school in Managua, Nicaragua. Donna teaches both undergraduate courses in the School of Education, as well as graduate courses in the CTELL/TESOL program. She also teaches in Edgewood’s COR program for freshman students, offering a course on the history of immigration in the United States that is cross-listed with Ethnic Studies. Among her college responsibilities, Donna serves on the advisory board for Edgewood’s Center for Multicultural Education. Donna’s research interests include critical race theory, education and immigration, bilingual education and restorative justice. She has been active in the Madison community for many years.

Julie C. Luecke, Associate Professor in the School of Education, received her BS in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her M.Ed. in Curriculum from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was an elementary classroom teacher for nine years before moving into higher education. During her graduate studies, she took a year off to volunteer at Ongwediva College of Education in Namibia, and joined the Edgewood faculty in 2006. She teaches undergraduate courses in educational foundations, courses in children's literature for the undergraduate program and Advanced Certification Elementary (ACE) graduate program, and a course for the Edgewood College COR program, The Conception of Gender. This class grows out of Julie's research interests in building support structures for gender creative students and their peers, both through educational policy and practice and through children's and young adult literature.

Jed Hopkins, Ph.D.Associate Professor and Director of Masters Degree Program in Readingjhopkins@edgewood.edu(608) 663-3282

Jed Hopkins is Associate Professor of Education at Edgewood College in Madison, WI. He received his Ph.D in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Minnesota in 2009. Hopkins began his teaching career in London, England as an Elementary teacher almost thirty years ago. Since then he has taught at numerous levels from elementary through middle as well as college pre-service and in-service teachers at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His teaching and research interests straddle Literacy, Teacher Education, Drama-in-Education, and Philosophy of Education. Hopkins is particularly interested in appropriating neo-Heideggerian phenomenology and systemic functional linguistics for his work in teacher education.

Nancy Evans is a retired administrator from the Madison Metropolitan School District. She earned her undergraduate degree from Kentucky State University (an HBCU) and her master's from Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to coming to Madison, Nancy's career began as a classroom teacher in her home of Newark, New Jersey. During her years as a site-based educator, she held various positions at both elementary and middle school levels, and served as a middle school principal just prior to her retirement. Nancy's particular interests include: providing instruction that meets the needs of all students, best practices for reaching seemingly reluctant and disengaged learners, and supporting parents and families in becoming full partners in their students' education.